In November 1942, the two women were introduced at a café in Berlin. On the surface, they belonged to completely different, violently opposed worlds. Elisabeth Wust was a 29-year-old German woman, married to a Wehrmacht soldier who was away at the front. She was the mother of four sons and a recipient of the Nazi “Mother’s Cross,” living a relatively privileged life as an exemplar of Nazi womanhood. Felice Schragenheim was a 20-year-old Jewish woman living in hiding. After her grandmother was deported, Felice assumed a fake identity (“Felice Schrader”) and actively worked with the Jewish underground resistance. She even managed to get a job working at a Nazi-run newspaper to maintain her cover.

Felice, fascinated by the danger and drawn to Lilly, took the initiative to woo her. The two began a passionate secret relationship, communicating through a flurry of love letters and poems. In their writings, they adopted the pet names that would later make their story famous: Felice became “Jaguar” and Lilly was “Aimée” (French for “beloved”).

As their relationship deepened, the stakes grew impossibly high. When Felice finally revealed her true identity as a Jewish resistance worker, Lilly did not turn her in. Instead, she vowed to protect her. Lilly filed for divorce from her husband, and in May 1943, Felice moved into Lilly’s home, ostensibly acting as a caretaker for Lilly’s children.

In June 1943, the couple drafted their own marriage contract, and a few months later, they exchanged rings, an extraordinary act of commitment and queer defiance in the heart of the Third Reich.

Dolores del Río was one of the major glamorous stars of Hollywood’s classic era, starring in hit musical films like Flying Down to Rio (1933). Hugo Ballin was a celebrated painter, illustrator, and former silent film director best known for his landmark Los Angeles murals, including those at the Griffith Observatory and the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.

The painting depicts Del Río posing in the same sleek dark gown on a draped couch, embodying the Art Deco visual style and Hollywood high-fashion aesthetic of the early 1930s.

While Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane draws the audience in, her shocking mid-movie death completely shifts the narrative focus. Lila Crane steps forward as the film’s true grounded investigator. Bringing sharp intelligence and cautious poise to the screen, she acts as the practical anchor that drives the mystery forward during the tense second half of the movie.

Lila is the central figure in one of the most famous climax sequences in cinematic history. While sneaking through the Bates home, she discovers a figure seated in the basement fruit cellar. Turning the chair around, she reveals the mummified skeletal corpse of Mrs. Bates. This discovery triggers her iconic horror scream just moments before Norman Bates attacks her while dressed in his mother’s clothes.

Vera Miles’ relationship with director Alfred Hitchcock was historic; she was originally intended to star in Vertigo (1958) before a pregnancy shifted those plans. Decades after the original masterpiece, Miles cemented her legacy as the ultimate survivor by returning to reprise her role as Lila Crane (now Lila Loomis) in the 1983 horror sequel Psycho II.

Known for his chaotic antics, hotel room destruction, and explosive drum solos, Moon also had a soft, playful heart, especially when it came to charity and theatrical dress-up. Organized as a Christmas goodwill visit for Barnardo’s, a prominent UK charity supporting vulnerable children and families. Moon went all-out, donning complete white greasepaint, a pointed cap with jester bells, and a yellow-and-red padded suit.

This event occurred less than a year before Moon’s tragic death in September 1978, making it one of the most memorable candid photos from his final months.

Head joined Paramount (then Famous Players–Lasky) in 1923 as a sketch artist after using classmates’ drawings in her portfolio. She learned under Howard Greer and Travis Banton, starting with supporting roles, extras, and less glamorous assignments while gradually taking on more design work. By the early 1930s she had transitioned into full costume design.

She gained her first major on-screen credit and worked with Mae West on She Done Him Wrong (1933), creating the actress’s signature voluptuous, hat-heavy looks that pushed censorship boundaries. Her breakthrough came with Dorothy Lamour’s figure-hugging sarong in The Jungle Princess (1936) and related films such as The Hurricane (1937). The design became a national fashion craze and raised Head’s public profile.

Other early work included films with Shirley Temple, Clara Bow (earlier), and various Paramount productions. She was known for practical, character-driven designs rather than pure glamour, and she developed a talent for flattering different body types and transforming actresses.

In 1938, after Banton left (amid personal issues), Head was named chief costume designer. She oversaw a large department and preferred the 1930s as her favorite decade, when stars “wore real fur, real jewels” and designers were as important as the stars themselves.

Her first marriage (to Charles Head) ended in divorce around 1938; she kept the surname professionally. Head married art director Wiard (“Bill”) Ihnen in 1940; the marriage lasted until his death in 1979.

She designed for dozens of films a year (sometimes 40–50). Key collaborations included Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve, 1941; Ball of Fire, 1941; Double Indemnity, 1944), Veronica Lake, Ginger Rogers (Lady in the Dark, 1944, featuring a much-discussed mink-lined gown during wartime austerity), Ingrid Bergman (Notorious, 1946), and the Hope-Crosby-Lamour “Road” comedies (exotic, resourceful designs using substitutes for restricted materials).

Wartime constraints led to creative solutions (e.g., painted fabrics instead of scarce printed ones, sheer cotton for silk). Her work emphasized character transformation, camouflage of perceived flaws, and story support over pure fashion statements.

The Academy Award for Best Costume Design was introduced in 1948–49. Head received her first nomination for The Emperor Waltz (1948) and won her first Oscar for The Heiress (1949, Olivia de Havilland). She also won that year for Samson and Delilah. These marked the start of her record-setting run (eventually 8 wins and 35 nominations).

Head’s style in this era was versatile, ranging from elegant simplicity and period accuracy to glamorous or exotic looks, while remaining collaborative and discreet with stars. She became known for making actresses feel beautiful and for designs that influenced off-screen fashion. By the end of the 1940s she was firmly established as one of Hollywood’s most important and prolific costume designers, a position she held at Paramount into the 1960s.